Antwerp Map 1599 Braun & Hogenberg Bird's-Eye View Print - Antwerp, Scheldt River, Fortifications, Brabant

This exquisite view of Antwerp, titled Anverpia, nobile in Brabantia, was made by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg for their Civitates Orbis Terrarum and published in Cologne in 1599. It carries a dedication to Ferdinand Alvarez of Toledo, Duke of Alba. The scene is rich in detail and shows a city of paramount historical importance and a dynamic center of trade and commerce. The Scheldt River dominates the left of the view, crowded with ships of various designs and sizes, and the two upper corners carry coats of arms that stand for the power and prestige of the city and the region. The plan is a large pictorial view, and the cartouche and coats of arms add to its decorative effect.

The fortifications guard the city with numerous ramparts and bulwarks, and canals add a further layer of defense and control. Within the walls, public and private buildings fill the plan, and the towering spires of the churches stand out. A Latin text in the lower left corner says that the city is visited by the French, Germans, Spaniards and Britons for its trade, and it names the tall Temple of the Virgin and the Hanseatic, English and Portuguese buildings. It adds that the walls were built from Cronenburg to the Caesar Gate in 1567, and that a golden statue of the Duke of Alba stood in the middle of the citadel, erected by his order.

Anyone who enjoys sixteenth-century city views, a family with roots in Antwerp, or a reader of the history of the Spanish Netherlands will find a distinctive gift here. TheMapVault's view of Leuven from the same Civitates shows the scholarly town, whereas this sheet shows the great port at the height of its trade. Like every print in the collection, it ships unframed and is available in a full range of sizes, from a compact desk piece to a large-format statement print.